If you’re looking for some new classic holiday songs there’s something for everyone on "All these Gifts". Fans of Jan Garrett and JD Martin, will find the real life couple in rare form and delievering some of their best music ever on this, their latest project. If you are contemplating purchasing this CD and experiencing Jan and JD for the first time, I can guarantee you’ll become fans in 40 minutes or less.
The bouncy, positive opening cut, "Joy in our Hearts", nails the basic emotions of the season and still finds a place in the Christian advent calender, which counts the weeks before Christmas with Faith, Love, Joy and Peace as their themes. JD and co-writer Karen Drucker turn these preach-able topics into everyday feelings anyone can celebrate.
The title track along with a picture of Jan and JD holding Christmas presents for the cover may suggest a theme of fruitful bounty of Christmas booty for the holidays, but of course that’s not what Christmas is all about is it? "All These Gifts" reminds us of the intangible gifts of love and gratitue we give to each other that should be the real and universal focus of this time of year.
Besides all the gifts, goodwill and warm fuzzies, the holidays can also be a very romantic time. "Christmas Bossa Nova" is dripping with double entendre and reminds us that we can use our imaginations to whisk us away to a romantic tropical hidaway anytime winter weather gets us down.
Of course we can’t leave out the family album which Jan and JD open up and share with us in "Christmas Home Movies". Whether your family memories are positive or not so much, there’s melancholy in looking back and melancholy is standard fare for many this time of year.
We no sooner close one family album than JD opens another in the next track, "This Christmas Eve", co-written with Megon McDonough for a sad, yet satisfying soliloquy to an ex whom you only see for the holidays, we assume for the sake of the children. "We’re like soldiers in battle who suddenly cease, for Christmas, for peace."
As a predominantly Christian holiday, JD and Jan remind us that winter has its own magic outside of the Christmas story. Here is where "Solstice Song". "Solstice Lullaby" and "Celtic Christmas" come in. Only Christians may experience the story of Jesus birth, but everyone experiences the effects of the season – the shortening of days, the hibernation of nature. The preparing for the coming of the light and new life in the Spring. And especially for the end of an old year and the fresh start of a new.
If you are a traditionalist, "All These Gifts" does not disappoint. You’ll find a couple of very well arranged, tried and true songs rounding out the collection. The Jewish round, "The Waters of Babylon" reminds me of carolers outside my doror with its acapella madrigal voices. And "Lo How a Rose E’re Blooming", though not religious is a standard winter’s lullaby masterfully recaptured with Jan and JD’s perfectly blended voices. These are the only two songs not penned (or co-penned) by Jan and JD.
Closing out this journey through the Holidays is the bluesy, gratitude – filled "The Lucky Ones." Regardless of the circumstances in your life, we’re all just fortunate to be here for another holiday season. The calendar will soon flip and if nothing else, we can all be grateful our life is another year longer.
JD plays impeccable piano on every song which is sparsely produced to allow all the emotions each song evokes to take front and center. There is just enough of everything and sometimes a little less. The occasional guitar riff and Celtic flute add enough variety to keep you tuned in without being a distraction.
In 11 songs and around 40 minutes, Jan and JD manage to touch on all the emotions that accompany this season. Love, joy, gratitude, melancholy, sadness, reflection, romance, anticipation – the spiritual and the secular. The fantay and the reality.
Sure, go ahead and break out the old Manheim Steamroller and Andy Williams Christmas classics to take you away to that far off land where the Christmas story began. But when the day is done and you’re alone or with your beloved, "All These Gifts" will transport you to a different place – a place wihtin yourself. A place of reflection where you can meet "heart-on" the wide spectrum of emotions this season brings.